Effectiveness of government intervention in the private sector: Policy implications for legislators

Government initiatives to lessen COVID-19’s detrimental effects on the economy have yielded both successes and failures worldwide (Stiglitz, 2021; Rabhi et al., 2021). While this controversy rages, the COVID-19 pandemic offers yet another opportunity to question the effectiveness of state-sponsored relief efforts for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). To assess the efficacy of government intervention, this study uses three criteria: “timeliness”, “targeting”, and “adequacy”. It uses the Botswana COVID-19 Relief Fund for SMEs as a case study. The study used a survey approach bolstered by in-depth interviews as its primary method of data collection. According to the thematic analysis, the intervention’s incomplete effectiveness was caused by application procedures that took too long, poor communication, a delayed start date, and a short intervention duration. The effectiveness of the intervention was diminished by poor targeting in light of corruption, gender inequality, and inadequate stakeholder consultation. For the purpose of improving both the intervention tools and the techniques, legislators must implement sufficient policy consultation. Eliminating corruption from the management and administration of interventions exterminates undeserving beneficiaries. Additionally, to improve targeting, the government needs to expand the scope of intervention tactics.